Flagstaff, Arizona
Frequently Asked Questions

We try to construct a team of interns that is strong in the sum of its parts and so our interns generally come from a variety of backgrounds.

No, you don’t need to be a serious runner or athlete. In fact, our high schoolers aren’t all serious runners or athletes, so we don’t want all of our interns to be serious runners or athletes either. Yes, we do try to have some high level athletes, but we also look to have some interns who may be club runners or other-sport athletes to show our younger students that there are lots of ways to “be an athlete.”

Click on the “All the Details” tab for a full answer!

See the “Typical Day” tab.

In many ways, the structure of all of our programs is quite similar. The broad-strokes, day-to-day schedules will look relatively similar, the focus on service, athletics, and adventure is still there, along with the interaction with high schoolers. All programs are located at high altitudes, have miles of dirt roads and trails to run on, and other exercise options available.

That said, the locations themselves are quite different and our international programs are significantly longer than our Flagstaff program. The Sacred Valley in Peru is vast, dry, and located high in the mountains at 9,700 ft. while the Rift Valley in Kenya is greener (and thus a bit wetter) and lower, at about 7,800 ft. Kenya and Peru, though both developing countries, are also very different places from a cultural perspective. Pisac, where Strive-Peru is based, is probably slightly more developed than Iten. More tourism comes through the town and thus things like restaurants, internet, and hot water are a bit easier to find.  Flagstaff is probably a mix of the two. It comes in at approximately 7,000 ft, is fairly green and will likely get a few days of rain during the program. Flagstaff is very developed and all modern amenties can be found in the city. 

Flagstaff has a great running culture and many professional athletes in the US make Flagstaff a base for their training activities.  It might not have quite the same allure and fame as the Kenyan running culture but it does pretty well in its own right. 

In contrast, we are very much creating our own running culture in the Sacred Valley. Strive has funded a gym which is part of the hotel where you’ll be staying and is equipped with weight machines, free-weights, stationary bikes, mats, etc. We also have a few mountain bikes you can take out on the roads. And between our staff and friends in Peru (Ty has befriended many of the elite runners in the region), we’ve got plenty of fast people to impart some wisdom and push you through your harder sessions.

Weekends are very much up to the group and will be decided by the High School participants, interns and staff together. We like to give you guys as much freedom as possible and a big part of that is planning how you want to spend your free time. There are plenty of options in the Flagstaff area which include: Slide Rock State Park, Montezuma’s Castle, Sedona, the Grand Canyon, slot canyons and way too many to list here. Some people will likely want to do their longer runs on the weekends as well, but we’ve found this is easy to fit in. The weekends is also time for doing laundry and catching up on communicating back home, as well as prepping for tutoring or whatever work you might be doing the following week.

One important note is that your program fee does NOT cover these outings (see Dates & Fees tab for details on what is/isn’t covered). Still, most of these activities are not super expensive. Going hiking or to state park costs nothing other than your food and water and possibly a small entrance fee depending on how things are charged at the particular park. See our page on Safety and Risk Management for more details.

See the “All the Details” tab for a description of how food and meals work.

And yes, we can (and have) had interns who have been vegan, vegetarian, pescetarian, non-gluten, non-dairy, you-name-it. If you have a very restrictive diet you may just end up eating a lot of the same thing, but it can be done. Let us know if you have any specific food issues about which you have questions.

Strive does have our own financial aid program, but unfortunately aid is currently only available for our main high school programs.

If you’re interested in the StriveCollege Intern Program but would struggle to pay the program fee, we’d recommend asking your school if they have any grants or stipends for unpaid internships. We’ve had many college interns pay for some or all of their expenses this way.

Many students have also had great success with personal fundraising through traditional fundraiser, crowd-sourcing, pledging, etc.

Lastly, you can always contact us if you have any questions or if you’re looking for more help.